In the Book of Mormon, we read of a dream that Lehi and Nephi had. In this dream, people were working to move towards a tree. But their progress was hindered by clouds of darkness, by treacherous paths, and by those people housed in the great and spacious building. Because of these temptations and trials, people became lost and some even fell into a great river. However, there was a strait path which led to the tree, and along this path there was a rod of iron, and those that held fast to this rod made it to the tree.
Nephi gives an interpretation of the dream in 1 Nephi chapter 15, which I encourage you to read, but there is one specific part that I'd like to focus on. Nephi tells us that the rod of iron which leads to the tree of life is the word of God, otherwise known as the scriptures. From this, we gather that daily partaking in the words of the scriptures will keep us on this strait path which leads to eternal life. I know that if we will study the scriptures each day, we will come closer to Christ and will have a desire to follow Him.
There's a scripture in Helaman chapter 3, verses 29 and 30, which I also encourage you to read. Here, we read that if we will "lay hold upon the word of God," we will be able to navigate through the trials and temptations, that we will avoid the traps the devil has set for us, and continue on the strait path to eternal life.
I testify that if you will commit to read from the scriptures and pray every day that you will see a difference in your life and that you will have a stronger desire to follow Christ and do His will. And we know from the sciptures that "[He] is the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by [Him]."(John 14:6). I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Humility and Boldness, Part I
While out with a member of the ward last night, he said something to my companion and I that really struck me. He said, "Be bold in your teaching, and be humble about how you teach it. I still have some trouble seeing boldness and humility occupy the same space, but looking back on the month and a half I've been out in the field, I'm slowly starting to understand, and this quote has prompted me to reflect on this quite often in the space of less than 24 hours.
Let's start with being bold in what we teach. To be bold, we must have the courage to speak up and proclaim the truth, which can be very scary sometimes and is something that I really need to work on as a missionary, at least on the initial contact. Even when talking to somebody who seems busy or disinterested, we must remember that His sheep will know His voice. That if they are true followers of Christ, and we have the courage to speak up and the boldness to speak simply and strongly of the Restoration of His church, His sheep will follow. And once we have made contact and continue to go back and teach, we can't be afraid to speak plainly to them, or to say something that might be hard. We must build our investigators up on the foundation of faith in Christ, and we must test that faith by asking them to keep commitments and obey the Word of Wisdom, the law of Tithing, etc.
The important thing to remember is something one of my teachers in the MTC said: "Boldness is motivated by love, overbearance is motivated by frustration." If we are teaching without love, the Spirit can't be there and our investigators will not develop that faith that is necessary for their conversion, and they won't read the Book of Mormon, which means they won't gain a testimony of it and everything else that testimony entails, which means they won't enter the waters of baptism and become a disciple of Christ.
If anyone has any comments or stories they'd like to share, or suggestions for how I can improve myself as a missionary, please comment! And remember that I am not saying these things because I am perfect, and that I have a lot of things to work on. I just hope that something that I say will influence someone or inspire someone. or get somebody to comment with a suggestion. Hope y'all have a great day!
Let's start with being bold in what we teach. To be bold, we must have the courage to speak up and proclaim the truth, which can be very scary sometimes and is something that I really need to work on as a missionary, at least on the initial contact. Even when talking to somebody who seems busy or disinterested, we must remember that His sheep will know His voice. That if they are true followers of Christ, and we have the courage to speak up and the boldness to speak simply and strongly of the Restoration of His church, His sheep will follow. And once we have made contact and continue to go back and teach, we can't be afraid to speak plainly to them, or to say something that might be hard. We must build our investigators up on the foundation of faith in Christ, and we must test that faith by asking them to keep commitments and obey the Word of Wisdom, the law of Tithing, etc.
The important thing to remember is something one of my teachers in the MTC said: "Boldness is motivated by love, overbearance is motivated by frustration." If we are teaching without love, the Spirit can't be there and our investigators will not develop that faith that is necessary for their conversion, and they won't read the Book of Mormon, which means they won't gain a testimony of it and everything else that testimony entails, which means they won't enter the waters of baptism and become a disciple of Christ.
If anyone has any comments or stories they'd like to share, or suggestions for how I can improve myself as a missionary, please comment! And remember that I am not saying these things because I am perfect, and that I have a lot of things to work on. I just hope that something that I say will influence someone or inspire someone. or get somebody to comment with a suggestion. Hope y'all have a great day!
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